Booking Through Thursday

We’re moving in a couple weeks (the first time since I was 9 years old), and I’ve been going through my library of 3000+ books, choosing the books that I could bear to part with and NOT have to pack to move. Which made me wonder…

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

I purged my library once in my life. When I got married and moved out of my parent's house, I gave away or sold many of the books that I had collected through high school and college. To this day I regret having done so. I have repurchased some of the books I got rid of and vow to never purge again.

For more answers to this question and others, check out Booking Through Thursday.

Booking Through Thursday

What’s the most serious book you’ve read recently?

The last serious book I read was Fool's Gold by Gillian Tett. It is about the development of the credit derivatives that caused the financial mess in which we currently find ourselves. That crisis being something that is quite serious indeed.

Booking Through Thursday

What’s the worst ‘best’ book you’ve ever read — the one everyone says is so great, but you can’t figure out why?

Most recently, On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I found this to be an absolutely horrible read. I am one of those people that will usually stick it out to the very end once I start a book. But this one ... it was so awful I don't even think I made it to the 50 page mark. Before reading it I had read so much good press about Smith. This novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker and won the Orange prize. But wow! I thought it was a stinker.

Booking Through Thursday

We’ve all seen the lists, we’ve all thought, “I should really read that someday,” but for all of us, there are still books on “The List” that we haven’t actually gotten around to reading. Even though we know they’re fabulous. Even though we know that we’ll like them. Or that we’ll learn from them. Or just that they’re supposed to be worthy. We just … haven’t gotten around to them yet.

What’s the best book that YOU haven’t read yet?

My first though was, Wow! What a tough question. I have my TBR List, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, 501 Must Read Books, among other books on books in my library. I have also been eyeing 501 Great Writers. How am I supposed to pick one book from that kind of pool?

Then I thought about it for a moment and realized that there is one great book that I haven't read yet. A book that some think was the very first novel. A book that languishes on my bookshelf despite my best intentions.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Booking Through Thursday: Author's Blogs

Do you read any author’s blogs? If so, are you looking for information on their next project? On the author personally? Something else?

I actually read several author's blogs:

• Will Lavendar after I read his book Oblivion. He hasn't posted recently though.


• Lilith St. Crow after reading a couple of her books and discovering she participated in the National Novel Writing Month.


• Charlie Stross after purchasing Glasshouse. (I haven't read the book yet, though.)


• Nicola Griffith for writing advice.


• Kelley Eskridge for writing advice.


• John Scalzi for writing advice, but he doesn't give very much of it.


• Jeff Vandermeer from when he was reading 60 of Penguin's Great Ideas books in 60 days.

I found some of them by following links in people's blogrolls. I find many of the blogs I read that way. Especially the lit blogs.

Booking Through Thursday: Favorite Books of 2008

It’s a week or two later than you’d expect, and it may be almost a trite question, but … what were your favorite books from 2008?

I misread the question at first. I thought I was being asked to choose one favorite. One!?! Just One?!? Fortunately, I reread the question and, much to my relief, I can pick more than one favorite book from 2008. So, without further ado:

Fiction

• The Sea by John Banville


• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell


• The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell

Non-fiction

I didn't really read that much non-fiction in 2008. Certainly less that I did in previous years. I wonder if it might have something to do with discovering all these book challenges ...

• Personality: What Makes You The Way You Are by Daniel Nettle

Read to My Six Year Old Son

• UnLunDun by China Mieville


• The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum

Booking Through Thursday

What I want to know today is … what are the most “wintery” books you can think of? The ones that almost embody Winter?

This year I read few books that were quite "wintery." First, The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. It takes place in the Canadian wilderness, full of snow and ice. I was reading it during several cold spells here in Texas and the book made it seem even chillier than it actually was. The second "wintery" book I read recently was A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It is appropriate to the winter season for all the obvious reasons: christmas, ghosts, and snowy streets. Finally, earlier this year I read Cold Skin by Albert Sanchez Pinol, a very strange tale that takes place in an Antarctic island.

Booking Through Thursday -- Bonus Question

What is the best book you ever bought for yourself?
And, why? What made it the best? What made it so special?

I would have to say that the best book that I ever bought for myself was the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. I had coveted a good OED for years. The full 20 volume OED would have been ideal, but a little too expensive. Not to mention the question of where in my crowded bookshelves I could put the 20 large volumes. I agonized between the Compact OED, which is all 20 volumes printed in one volume using really print, and the two volume Shorter OED. Many of the reviews on Amazon said the print in the Compact OED was too small to read, even with the included magnifying glass. That plus an extra $200 for the Compact OED convinced me to get the Shorter OED.

This purchase was special for several reasons. First, I had wanted to own an OED for so long that finally purchasing it for myself was reason enough for it to be special. Second, I had gone through a uncomfortable time in my life and felt that I was finally making some progress toward a better life. Purchasing a version of the OED was, silly enough, part of that progress. It was a symbol of the possibilities that were now open to me as I left the rough patch behind. Thirdly, it is special because it is the most expensive book I have purchased.

Booking Through Thursday

Do you give books as gifts?
To everyone? Or only to select people?
How do you feel about receiving books as gifts?

I do like to give books as gifts. I value reading so much myself that I give books as gifts in order to encourage others to do so too.

I am selective about the people to whom I give books though. First, I always want to make sure that the book is one that is appropriate, one that the other person will enjoy. This means I have to know that person pretty well before I can purchase the right book, and as a rather introverted person, I don't get to know many people that well. Second, in my family my wife handles most of the gift giving. So, I actually choose gifts only for close family members.

As far as receiving books as gifts, is there any other kind of gift? Anyone that knows me well enough to give me a gift knows that I am an avid reader. So, books are pretty much the extent of the gifts that I receive. Years ago I wasn't as keen on receiving books as gifts because often the books I received weren't to my liking. Now an Amazon Wish List means that I mostly receive books that I want to read.

Booking Through Thursday

1. Do you get to read as much as you WANT to read? (I’m guessing #1 is an easy question for everyone?)
2. If you had (magically) more time to read – what would you read? Something educational? Classic? Comfort Reading? Escapism? Magazines?

As a stay-at-home dad with my only son in school, I would say that I am lucky enough to get as much time as I want to read. I would not, however, go so far as to say that I read as much as I want. I am often distracted by the television or the Internet. I also have a part-time freelancing gig that takes up a varying amount of time each week. Finally, sometimes I choose other projects over reading, for example National Novel Writing Month.

Having said that I get as much time as I want to read, the second question, as asked, does not apply. But, if I could (magically) focus on reading with a little more intensity, I would clear the enormous backlog of books that I want to read, starting with the ones I own but haven't read. This would consist mostly of classics, literary fiction, philosophy, and history. I would also spend more time studying Spanish or another foreign language in order to attempt to read non-English language literature in the original language. Perhaps, these can be goals for next year ...

Booking Through Thursday.

So, it’s my birthday today. (Please, no applause.) But it’s inspiring today’s question–
What, if any, memorable or special book have you ever gotten as a present? Birthday or otherwise. What made it so notable? The person who gave it? The book itself? The “gift aura?”

First off, let's hear it for November birthdays. Mine is in three days. Happy Birthday to you, me, and everyone else whose birthday is in November.

I have two books that were given to me as gifts for which I have a particular fondness. First, early in my fourth grade year of school my family moved from Woodbridge, Virginia to Herndon, Virginia. My fourth grade teacher gave me a copy of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I still have the very same copy. However, I have, much to my embarrassment, never read it. But, I plan to remedy this by reading this very copy for the Decades Challenge.

Second, for Christmas in 1981, my great grandmother gave me the sci-fi book The Hydronaut Adventures by Carl L. Biemiller. I remember being fascinated by it as a child. The cover shows two men in some kind of bubble beneath the ocean. Two mean looking sharks prowl the waters above them. I remember looking at that cover and feeling that the future could bring anything, that the possibilities were endless. That, perhaps, when I was an adult, I too might live beneath the ocean.

Both of these books have been with me for most of my life. They are, in fact, the two books I have owned for the longest time. They moved with me from Virginia to Hawaii and back. They moved with me New Orleans and survived hurricane Katrina. And they are here with me now in Texas, where they hold a special place in my library.

Booking Through Thursday: Conditioning

Mariel suggested this week’s question.

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

By nature I am one of those people that not only flinches and squeals in pain, but will actually attempt to physically defend books when they are attacked by senseless readers who don't know any better!

That being said, in The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life Steve Leveen makes a strong case for what he calls "leaving footprints" in the books you read. This applies only to the books you own, of course. After reading his advice, I have tried to control my "preservationist" instincts and leave footprints in my books. I underline passages that strike me, indicate words that I had to look up, and write notes in the margin. However, despite inscribing marginalia in my own books, I still cannot countenance dog-earing or spine-breaking. Even if you are going to treat a book as a conversation, as Leveen suggests, you should still treat it with respect!